1. Better disclosure requirements. E.g., a Truth-in-Lending box as with credit cards. Include max. possible interest rate, a plot of the index rate over the last few decades (giving a student some idea of just how high rates could go); whether the loan is fixed or adjustable rate; etc.

2. A class to all potential student borrowers re. fixed vs. adjustable rate, compound interest, amortization, how to calculate monthly payments, how payments break down into principal & interest, etc. Also on the differences between federal & private student loans.

If these students are smart enough to get into college, they’re smart enough to understand amortization calculations.

1) The cynicism of the researchers (cynicism, I might add, that I’d probably share in the absence of countervailing evidence); and 2) the fact that the researchers’ cynicism was proven wrong (at least for this particular sample).

“Gun buybacks are a great subsidy to gun owners. Everyone has a junker or two that’s beyond repair and unsalable. You can still get $50-100 for it! […] A gun dealer sold all his junkers to his employees, and they went around turning them in, and netting a nice profit as their bonus.” Heh.